Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing method and a printing apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
In, for example, printing a photographic image, borderless printing is known, which prints an image on a sheet without providing any margin on the sheet. There has been proposed a technique of setting a printing range beyond a sheet when performing borderless printing by using an inkjet printing apparatus. However, since ink is discharged to the outside of the sheet, this becomes a factor that leads to stain on a peripheral portion and wasteful ink consumption.
As a measure against this problem, Japanese Patent No. 4434143 discloses a technique of minimizing the amount of ink discharged to the outside of a sheet by detecting an edge of the sheet and setting a printing start position or printing end position at an outside position near the detected edge. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-231612 discloses a technique of preventing stain on a peripheral portion by providing a platen with grooves which receive ink. These grooves are provided at positions corresponding to edges of the platen with reference to a main sheet size.
In both the techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4434143 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-231612, ink is discharged to the outside of a sheet, and hence ink is wasted. That is, there is room for improvement in terms of reducing the amount of wasted printing material.